{Felt With the Heart}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

I always find my customers and audiences curious about the origin of wedding rituals: tossing the garter; exchanging rings; the “something old, something new” rhyme; the bride’s bouquet. These are rituals and traditions so familiar, even comforting, that we’ve accepted them into our modern celebrations—yet a mystery remains. Their origins are hazy; different societies added different meanings and their practice usually took a meandering path through the centuries, making some hard to trace. Wedding traditions, as author Carol McD. Wallace shares, have “complicated roots.” That’s why I consider all wedding rituals a kind of fairy tale: folklore from our heritage revealing itself a bit mysteriously.

So as a bride, whatever rituals you choose for your wedding, choose from the wise part of your mind and the generous part of your heart … then you will surely create a wedding celebration full of love and beauty! As Helen Keller reminded us: The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.

Love. Listen. Let go.

….with love from Cornelia

[Excerpted from my new book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride {Volume One} For Better or Worse, How Princess Diana Rescued the Great White Wedding.]